Walls, an Artemis Fowl fanfiction
by BluezebraAFHS
Summary: Commander Root has sent Captain Short to 'check up' on Artemis, and she becomes determined to break down his walls. Set after TAI. Rated T for some swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Artemis Fowl, no matter how much I wish I did.  
**

How would one describe Artemis Fowl? Cold, calculating, inhumane. That's how most people would describe him. At least, the people who didn't know him. Those who did know him knew that most of this was just a mask, and that deep down inside, Artemis Fowl was just a boy. He was a boy afraid of getting hurt, so he put up walls to protect himself. If you bothered to take down these walls, you would see just who exactly, Artemis Fowl the second is. And that is just what Holly Short, Captain of the LEPRecon unit, is determined to do.

Artemis Fowl was not in a good mood. His mother was trying to get him to act like a normal teenager, and was trying to get him to wear - shudder - jeans and t-shirts. When will she learn that he would never be a normal kid? Apart from that, his father was finally home. That was good, except for the fact that his time spent as a hostage made him suddenly determined to turn the Fowl emprise into a legit business company. Now don't get him wrong, he was very happy that his father was home and safe, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to revert from his criminal ways. They were a part of him now.  
But no, those were only factors in why he was in a bad mood. The real cause was the fact that Commander Root had sent Captain Short to come and 'check up' on him, and he was now stuck in a room with a very angry elf. You see, Holly didn't really want to be there. Sure, she had seen the human in him when she helped him rescue his father, but that doesn't mean she liked him. No, she simply held a grudging respect for him, as he did her, along with a little admiration, though he would never admit it to anybody. So, because of her reluctance, she decided to put her time staying at Fowl manor to good use, and did everything she could to annoy the mud boy who was now having a hard time ignoring her and just focusing on his computer.  
"So mud whelp, whatcha' doin'?"  
"Nothing of your concern." Said a very annoyed mud boy  
"Are you sure?" asked Holly Short  
"Yes, quite." He replied  
then to annoy him further, she started to poke him. As she continued to do so, it became increasingly difficult to keep his temper in check. Eventually though, he couldn't, and had to let it out, albeit calmly. "Look, you're here to make sure I'm not planning to destroy the fairy world, not to annoy me. So why don't you do your job and start acting professional?" he snapped  
Holly just grunted, and left the room.  
Artemis sighed. He didn't understand her. One minute, she would think he was okay, and actually had feelings, and then another she would think of him as the monster that kidnapped her. Woman. Feeling a headache coming on, he stood up from his computer and stretched. She was going to be here for another week. Luckily it was vacation, and he wouldn't have to go to school, so he didn't have to worry about her snooping through his stuff. He sighed again. This was going to be a long week.

**I know it's kind of short, but the next one will be up soon if you review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Artemis Fowl, no matter how much I wish I did.  
**

Holly couldn't sleep. She was too busy thinking. The mud boy was right, D'Arvit. She was not at Fowl Manor to annoy him, she was there to make sure he wasn't planning some diabolical scheme to destroy the People. Of course, she didn't think he was planning anything like that, and she already had proof that he wasn't. And she still had seven days on the surface.  
After a while of just sitting there, Holly got up and went outside. She walked around the grounds for a while, before seeing a figure perched at the top of one of the many hills. The climbed up, and saw that it was Artemis.  
"Hello, Captain." he said, not even bothering to look up from what he was doing  
"Hey, mud whelp." she said  
He sighed. He really didn't like being called that. Oh well, she probably wouldn't stop anytime soon. "Are you going to sit down, or are you just going to stand there all night?" he asked  
Holly sat down, and asked "So, what are you doing out here? Planning to take over the world?"  
"Yes, I'm already on the fourth step." he said sarcastically  
Holly just rolled her eyes. "Of course you are." she snarled back sarcastically "'Cause your an evil, cold, inhumane monster." she meant for the last part to be sarcastic, but some truth accidently crept into her words. Artemis sighed and looked down, realizing that she actually meant some of what she said. "Is that what you really think of me, Captain?" he asked, keeping all emotions out of his voice.  
"Yes, and that's not all. I think that all you care about is gold, that you hate everyone and everything except for your precious computers, and that all you want to do is take over the world for yourself."  
this time, Artemis couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice. "I see." he said, laying back on the ground and turning away from her. "Anything else?" he asked  
"Well, I don't know, is there anything else about you to know about? I thought I was pretty dead on." she snapped  
He sat up. "Trust me, Captain, there is a lot more. Did you ever think that you might ask me who I really am, or Butler, or Juliet, or Mother? I may used to act like that, but you saw a different me when we were in the arctic. I suggest you ask me or Butler who I am before judging me." at that, he got up and walked away, leaving Holly staring at his retreating figure. A few minutes later, she got up and walked back to her room. D'Arvit, the mud boy was right again. That was the last thought she had before falling asleep.

**I know it's short, but I have to go. Review, and the next chapter will be up soon. Hopefully it will be longer. Audios. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Artemis Fowl, no matter how much I wish I did.**

After the little disagreement with Holly, Artemis went back to his room to think. He hoped that she didn't really think that about him. Though she probably did, he'd given her _more_ than enough evidence to. He sighed. He'd just have to change her way of thinking now. As he thought, a plan slowly formed in his head. He smiled, it was perfect. With the plan going through his head, he fell asleep. His plan would start the next morning, and it would work. His plans always worked...

The next morning, when Holly woke up, she forgot momentarily where she was. _This isn't my room, _She thought. It took another moment for everything to come back to her. After she remembered everything, she went downstairs for breakfast with one intention in mind: ask Butler about Artemis.  
No one would expect a normal teenager to even go near the news paper, let alone read it. But then again, Artemis was no normal teenager, so Holly wasn't surprised to find him already in the dining room sipping tea and reading from the morning paper when she got down. "Good morning, Captain." said Artemis, glancing up from his paper to look at her. She nodded in reply, and sat down across from him. As he read the paper, Holly looked at him. His brow was creased with thought lines, his mouth shaped into a small frown. No teenager should look that way, but that's just what he looked like. She continued to watch him until Butler arrived with the food, looking away whenever she thought he was watching her.

In his head, Artemis chuckled. She really didn't know that he could see her watching him. As she watched him, he watched her, though far more discreetly. When Butler came in with the food, he turned his attention away from the LEP captain. Throughout breakfast, Artemis and Holly held a polite conversation, they didn't snap or yell at each other once. After breakfast was over, Artemis went up to his study, and Holly finally got Butler alone.

Butler was about to leave when Holly called him. "Butler, can I ask you a question?"  
"Sure." he replied, walking back over to Holly  
"Well, Artemis and I kind of had a little fight last night, and something he said got me curious. What is he like, you know, when he's all alone with you and his parents?" she asked  
"Well, he's a lot more relaxed when he doesn't have a business meeting or something going on. He's been through a lot, so he sort of views emotion as a weakness. He's starting to realize that it's not, and isn't hiding it as much, though he's still not anywhere near where he should be. He's not as bad as he was when he kidnapped you though, that's for sure." Butler replied  
Holly nodded, but had one last question. "I sort of saw that in the arctic. When we saved his father, he cried for a minute. But, did he... did he cry when his father went missing?" she asked  
Butler nodded. "He cried every night for a couple of weeks, and after that just when he was having a bad day. He always waited for when he thought everyone was asleep though, so he doesn't know I know."  
Holly nodded, she hadn't expected him to cry in front of anyone. If she hated to do it, so would he.  
As she listened to him speak, Holly was starting to get an idea of who Artemis really was. She still knew very little though, and she knew that to get the rest, she would have to ask him herself. When Butler was finished, she walked up to her room, a plan already forming in her mind. She smiled, she knew exactly how to get him to open up around her.

After breakfast, Artemis went up to his study. There he sat, going over the plan in his head a couple times more, tweaking and perfecting it. After he was done with that, he started working on the plan. His parents were coming back from their vacation soon, so he didn't have a lot of time. He'd have to plan every step perfectly.

Later that day, Holly walked down to the Fowl library. The place was huge, with shelves and shelves of books. It was probably her most favorite place in Fowl Manor. When she got in there, she saw Artemis reading a book in one of the plushy chairs in the center of the room. When she walked in, he looked up from his book and nodded to her. She nodded back, and went to look for a book to read. When she found one, she walked over to where Artemis was, and sat in the chair across from him. There they both read, each sneaking glances at each other when were sure the other wasn't looking.  
After a while of doing this, Holly sighed, and got started with her plan. "Look Artemis, I'm sorry about what I said last night, I didn't really believe what I said. I guess I was sort of just saying the first thing that popped into my head."  
after she was done speaking, Artemis stared at her surprised for a moment. He hadn't expected her to apologize. When he didn't answer, Holly started to get nervous. She started chewing on her lip, and that snapped Artemis out of his daze. "Good to know." he said quietly  
Holly nodded, and started fidgeting. This was harder than she thought it would be. "Well, what you said got me curious. I talked to Butler, but I didn't get nearly enough information. Now I want to know who you really are. I was wondering if you could... if you could... er, tell me." she said nervously  
Artemis was even more surprised than before. He didn't expect her to even ask about him. He sat there for a moment before he regained his cool. "Well, I... I don't really know what to tell you. How about we play a little game. You'll ask me a question, and then I'll ask you a question. How's that?"  
Holly nodded, and looked out the window at the sunset. Artemis, seeing where she was gazing, asked if she wanted to go outside. She nodded, and they went outside where they started their game.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Artemis Fowl, no matter how much I wish I did.**

_ They went outside where they started their game._

Artemis quickly showed her the way to a clearing with a bunch of rocks to sit on. After they were settled, Holly started the game. "What's your favorite color?" she asked  
Artemis thought for a moment. "Blue." he replied "What's your favorite color?" he asked  
Holly didn't waste a second. "Green." she answered "What time of day do you like better, dawn or dusk?"  
"Hmmm... that's a hard one. I'd have to say... dawn. What about you?"  
"It's a tie. They're both beautiful. Who are your friends?"  
"Umm, well, I don't really have any. I guess you could say Butler and Juliet are my friends, but I don't know if they really count. What's your favorite type of music?"  
"Hard Rock." Holly answered "What about you?"  
"Classical." he replied "Do you play anything?"  
"Not really. I tried to learn the guitar, but I didn't have the patients. What about you?"  
"Piano, guitar, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and ukulele."  
"Wow."  
"Do you prefer night, or day?" Artemis asked  
"Well, I love the sun, but it depletes my magic, so I have to say night. What about you?"  
"Night also. Have you ever heard of hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia?"  
"No, what is it?"  
"The fear of long words."  
"Well that's hypocritical."  
"I know."  
"Why do you like the night?"  
"Well, I like the stars. I'm not a big fan of the sun, because it would fry me, and we don't really get much sun over here anyways, so."  
Holly nodded.  
"Do you prefer the stars, or the moon?" Artemis asked  
"I don't think I can answer that." Holly replied  
Artemis raised an eyebrow, but let it go. Holly suddenly had a really good question. "When you're father went missing, and you're mother became... unstable, did you cry?"  
Artemis's face darkened, and he sat there for a minute before he finally replied. "Almost every single night, I would cry myself to sleep. Eventually, it was just after a hard day, but sometimes I just wasn't able to hold it in. Butler saw me cry maybe two or three times out of the hundreds of times I did it. It was not a good time for me. I'm just glad they're back, you know."  
Holly looked at him, and saw the child he was. Just for a second, but she saw it. Slowly, he was letting her in. He was showing her the side of him that felt emotions and hurt. He was letting her see the human side of him, not the cold, passive monster he had been when they had first met. She knew that she didn't know much about him yet, but she did know some things. It was a start. She looked at his face, and she was some pain in his features as he remembered those few years. "Let's call it a night." she said  
He nodded, and they got up, walking back to the manor in the light of the moon.

**I know it's pretty short, but it's like one in the morning, and I'm tired, so if it's not my best writing, forgive me. There will be another chapter like this soon, hopefully. I'll try to update tomorrow, but I am making no promises. The more reviews I get, the faster the next chappie will be up!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Artemis Fowl, no matter how much I wish I did.**

**I am so sorry about taking so long to update. I've just been busy, and I finally found the time. Anyway, I need to say that I write my own books, or try to at least, so I probably won't post up very often, but I'll make sure to finish this story and my other story without too much delay. Again, sorry for the wait. I'll try to update faster from now on.**

After Artemis and Holly played their little game, Artemis went to his study to think. How was Holly doing that? How could she get him to open up so easily when it took Butler hours? He just feels so comfortable around her, almost as if... almost as if they were friends. Is that what they were, friends? Artemis shook his head. No, they were just acquaintances. Nothing more, nothing less. He couldn't believe what he had told her. How could he have been so foolish, now she'll probably tease him about it. Oh well, he had to admit, it did feel nice to let it out. He'd spent so long holding everything in, just letting it out in such a simple way was nice. He sighed. What was Holly doing to him? Was she changing him? Is that why he felt so different? Maybe it's not his parents that are changing him, maybe, just maybe, it's Holly.  
Artemis thought for a little while, and realized that he had a lot to thank her for. Even after kidnapping her, and holding her for ransom, she had still healed his mother. She also risked a lot in helping him save his father. He couldn't help but feel he was growing close to her. She had done so much for him, yet he had done so little to thank her. The problem though, was that Artemis didn't know how to thank someone. The last time he had tried to thank her, he ended up stumbling over his words, and started rambling. He only stopped talking because Butler had wacked him. he didn't want something like that happening again.  
Artemis sighed again. If he was going to be friends with her, he'd have to learn a lot. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. It was time to go to bed. Strange, he hadn't even worked on any of his little schemes today. Wow, Holly really must be changing him. He opened his laptop, and quickly wrote an entry in his diary before going to his room and falling into bed. Christmas was coming up, and he had the perfect way to thank Holly for all he had done for him. He just didn't know if he had the guts to do it.

The next morning, Artemis went to breakfast to see Holly fast asleep with her head on the table. He chuckled. She certainly was interesting. Artemis walked over to her and shook her shoulder. "Captain, are you going to eat that crepe' or are you just going to use it as a pillow?"  
Holly slapped his shoulder lightly. "Five more minutes!" she moaned  
Artemis stepped back to look at her. He didn't want to have to go this far, but it was the only thing he could do. He pulled out his phone and took a picture of the ridiculous looking elf. "Captain, if you do not get up, I will send the picture I just took of you cuddling your breakfast to Foaly and-"  
He could say no more as the elf's head shot straight up in the air. She glared at him. "You wouldn't dare." she growled  
"Oh, but I would. I'm sure Foaly would enjoy it." he replied, smirking  
Holly narrowed her eyes. "Give me the phone, Fowl."  
Artemis pretended to think. "Hmm, no. I don't think I will."  
"Give it here!" she snapped  
"No."  
"This is you last chance. Give me that phone before I grab it for myself. And trust me, you don't want that to happen."  
"I'm stubborn fairy, you can threaten me all you want, I won't give you this phone." Artemis just studied his nails, as if she weren't as important as them, and Holly snapped. "You asked for it mudboy!" she yelled, jumping off the chair, flying towards him.  
Artemis, having terrible reactions, was not able to duck in time, and took the full force of the LEP captain in his chest. "Oof." he said, falling to the ground. he definitely didn't expect that. Holly, pinning him down grabbed the phone, and deleted the picture. "Yes!" she shouted  
Just as she defeated Artemis in the battle of the phone, Butler walked in to see his charge in an awkward position. He was lying on his back on the floor with Holly sitting on top of him, holding his phone and smiling widely. "I... I think I'll just leave you two alone." he said, backing out of the room.  
Artemis looked up and saw his bodyguard. "No! Butler, it's not what you think!" he yelled  
It was too late, the body guard was already gone. Artemis was about to call him back when he heard Juliet's voice. "What was all the commotion in there Butler?" she asked  
"I'm not entirely sure." he replied  
Artemis's eyes widened as he heard Juliet's footsteps coming closer and closer. "Quick, get off me before Juliet see's us like this. She'll never let us live it down!" he hissed  
Holly's eyes widened, and she jumped off of the boy, helping him up and scuttling over to her seat. By the time Juliet walked into the kitchen, both Artemis and Holly were sitting at the table eating their breakfasts. "What's going on?" she asked suspiciously  
Artemis looked up. "Nothing." he replied "Why would you think that?"  
"I heard a crash."  
"Oh that, my chair just fell, that's all." Holly replied  
Juliet didn't believe them, but she decided to play along. "Whatever." she said, skipping out of the room.  
Artemis sighed. "Whew, that was a close one."  
"Yeah, no kidding." Holly replied  
They sat there in silence for a little while, until Butler came in the kitchen. "Artemis, there's someone on the phone for you."  
"Okay." Artemis got up, and went to the phone. "Hello?" he asked  
"Is this Artemis Fowl the Second?" a cold voice asked  
"Yes." he replied  
"I think I may have something of use to you." it said  
"Oh? And what might that be?" Artemis asked  
"I have your parents." with that, the line went dead.  
Artemis froze. _I have your parents... I have your parents... _Those words just kept playing over and over in his mind. With a clatter, the phone fell out of his hand, and crashed onto the floor. Butler ran into the room almost as soon as the phone hit the floor. Seeing Artemis's pale face, he asked "What's wrong." Holly walked in just as he said that. "What was that crash?" she asked  
Artemis swallowed. "Butler, it appears we have another rescue mission on out hands. M... mother and father, were kidnapped. 

**Again, I'm sorry for the long wait. I'll try to update quicker from now on. Tell me what you think. The next chapter will hopefully be posted up sooner that this one was. Bye bye.**


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